Process and apparatus for the manufacture of glass



J. c. BLAIR 1,865,829

TUBE 0F GLASS July 5, 1932.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFAC Filed Dec. 5, 1929 Patented July 5 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE JAMES C. BLAIR, OF TOLEDO OHI O, ASSIGNOR T'O LIBBEY-OWENS FORD GLASS COM- PANY, F TOLEDO, OHIO,A.GORPORATION OF OHIO rRooEss AND ArrARAT'us FOR THE MAN'UrAo'rURE or GLASS Application flledDcember 5, 1929. Serial No. 411,759.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for forming and annealing sheet or plate glass.

In the production of successive sheets of glass by an intermittent rolling operation, it is desirable that the formation of the" sheet be performed at a relatively great speed as compared to the speed at which the sheet travels in annealing. This rapid formation of the sheet is desirable from both the standpoint of production and qu'ality, While the travel of the sheet during annealing is neces-' sarily slow in order to avoid making theannealing apparatus of great length.

An important object of the presentinventi'on resides in theprovi'sionof a process and apparatus whereby successivesheets of glass may be intermittently formed at a relatively high rate of speed and subsequentlyannealed while traveling at a relatively slower speed.

Another object of the invention is the pro vision of a process andapparatus for effecting a reduction in the speed of travel of the sheet as it is being carried forwardly whereby the' movement of the sheet can be dropped from its relatively high forming speed to a relatively slower annealing'speedinan easy, convenient and efficient manner.

Briefly stated, the invention consists in de-' livering the sheet's'hortly after it has been formed onto a receiving conveyor section composed of alternately arranged, high speed and low speed rolls, the: said" rolls being in horizontal alignment with one another and positively driven at their respective speeds during the receiving of the" sheet thereupon with the high speed rolls acting to shove or slide the glass forwardly'over the slow speed rolls. After the sheet has been entirely" received upon the conveyor section,fthe high speed rolls are lowered away from and out of contact with the sheet thereby allowing the low speed rolls to carry said sheet for wardly and deliver it into an'annealing zone at-the speed at which it is intended to move therethrought Ifdesired, instead of lowering the high speed rolls awayfrom the sheet,

the rotation of these rolls may be reduced to a speed either equal to or below that of the low' speed rolls and if'the latter method is followed, the low speed rolls willact to drag or pull the sheet over the high speed rolls which are then being driven at a speed relatively less than that of the low speed rolls.-

Other objects and advantages of the 11rvention will become more apparent during the course of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing. In the drawing forming a part of this a p plication and wherein like numerals areemployed to' designate like partsthroughout the same, I V r Fig.-

is a vertical longitudinal sectionthrough' apparatus provided by the present invention, I

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, and

Fig. 3is aside elevation of a'portion of the annealing leer, showing the means for effectting vertical movement of the high speed rolls;

Referring to the drawing, 5 designates a receiver or support adapted to have deposited thereupon a mass or chargeof molten glass 6 from a pot or other suitable receptacle 7. The mass of molten glass 6' is preferably supplied to the receiver when the same is ina substantially horizontal position as indicated by the broken'lines in Fig. 1,

after which the pot 7 is removed and the receiver tilted upwardly to causethe molten glass to move downwardly between a pair of forming rolls 8 and 9. The formingrol-ls arespaced from one another to create a sheet forming pass therebetween and are mounted upon shafts 10 rotatably supported at their opposite ends by members 11 and 12.

I As pointed out above, it is desirable 'tl'iat themass of molten glass 6'be rapidly reduced to-sheet form and the forming rolls 8 and 9 are consequently driven at a' relatively high peripheral speed so that they will effect'the rapid formation of the sheet. One of the forming rolls may be positively driven as by suitable driving means 13 and the other roll driven fromthe first roll through intermeshing gears 14'mou'nted upon-the roll shafts-10.

The glass sheetor plate 15 made by the forming rolls is supported as it leaves said rolls upon an inclined runway or" chute 16.

Positioned adjacent the chute 16 and adapted to receive the glass sheet or plate therefrom is a horizontal conveyor table indicated in its entirety by the numeral. 17 and being preferably comppsed of a plurality of horizontally aligned rolls 18 rotatably supported at their opposite ends by the side frames 19 and 20. The rolls 18 may be driven in any desired manner such as by associating with each roll a sprocket (not shown) and in training about all of these sprockets a single sprocket chain 21 driven from a motor 22 through suitable reduction gearing 23;

Arranged at the end of the conveyor table 17 is an annealing leer 24 containing a large number of sheet supporting rolls which are divided into two principle units or sections A andB, the section A being termed the receiving section and B the annealing section of the leer. The receiving section A is composed of a plurality of low speed rolls 25 (driven at annealing speed) and a plurality of high speed rolls 25 (driven at rolling speed), the low speed rolls and high speed rolls being arranged alternately with one another as shown. The annealing section B of the leer. is composed of a plurality of low speed rolls 27 (also driven at annealing speed) arranged in horizontal alignment with the rolls 18, 25 and 26 when the high speed rolls 26 are in their elevated or sheet supporting position, these rolls being vertically adjustable as a unit as will be more clearly hereinafter apparent. The rolls 27 of section B are driven at a constant annealing speed from a motor 28 through suitable reduction gearing 29 and a chain and sprocket drive 30, the sprockets (not shown) being associated with the rolls and the sprocket chain 30 being trained thereabout. The low speed rolls 25 of the receiving section A can also be drivenfrom the motor 28 as through suitable driving means 31 or a. separate drive may be provided therefor if preferred.

According to the invention, the high speed rolls 26 of leer section A are mounted so that they can be raised and lowered as a unit withrespect to the low speed rolls 25 to the end that the highspeed rolls can be moved into or out of supporting contact with the sheet, the purpose of this arrangement being to provide for a change in the speed of travel of the glass sheet from its relatively high rolling speed to its relatively slower annealing speed. Thus, the high speed rolls 26 project at their opposite ends beyond the side walls of the leer 24 and are rotatably supported by the horizontal, supporting frames 32 and 33, said frames being movable vertically to raise and lower the rolls carried thereby as aunit with respect to rolls 25. This vertical adjustment may be accomplished in numerous ways and as herein shown for the purposes of illustration, each side frame 32 and 33 has pivoted thereto adjacent its front and rear ends a deincised pending link 34 pivotally connected with a shaft or pin 35 to which is also pivotally connected a link 36 pivoted at its opposite end to a fixed block 37 Connecting the pins 35 at the front and rear ends of each side frame 32 and 33 is a rod 38 and pivotally associated with one of the pins 35 is a pitman 39 pivoted as at 40 to an eccentric 41, said eccentric carrying a gear 42 meshing with and driven from a worm 43 carried by drive shaft 44. Suitable means may be provided for connecting the raising and lowering mechanism at the opposite sides of the leer' so that the opposite ends of the rolls can be raised and lowered simultaneously to maintain the rolls always in a horizontal position.

"When the high speed rolls 26 are in their raised position so that they are in horizontal alignment with the low speed rolls 25, the parts ofthe raising and lowering mechanism and associated parts assume the relative positions indicated in Fig. 3 with the links 34 and 36 in a substantially extended position. lVhen it is desired to lower the rolls, however, the eccentrics 41 are rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow so as to cause a folding or collapsing of the links in the well-known manner of a toggle joint to effect the lowering of the side frames 32 and 33 and consequently the rolls 26. The high speed rolls 26 may be driven from the motor 22 for the rolls 18 through suitable driving means 45 as shown or a separate drive for the rolls 26 may be provided if preferred.

When it is desired to form the glass sheet or plate 15, the high speed rolls 26 of leer section A are raised to the same level as the low speed rolls 25 so that both sets of rolls will function to support the glass sheet thereupon as it is delivered into the leer, both the high speed rolls and the low speed rolls being simultaneously positively driven at their respective speeds. The glass sheet is preferably formed at a relatively high rate of speed such as for example in the neighborhood of sixty feet per minute and is annealed while traveling at a much slower speed which may be for example approximately five feet per minute. Thus, during the formation of the sheet, the rolls 18 and 26 are positively driven at rolling speed, while the rolls 25 and 27are positively driven at annealing speed. As the glass sheet passes from the rolls 18 onto the rolls of leer section A, the high speed rolls 26 will act to shove or slide the sheet forwardly over the slow speed rolls 25. However, after the sheet is entirely received upon 'therolls of section A, the high speed rolls 26 are lowered away from and out of contact with the sheet by the mechanism above described thereby allowing the sheet to slow down to the speed at which the slow speed rolls 25 are being positively driven which, as abovestated, may be about five feet per minute. The low speed rolls will then feed the sheet forwardly onto the rolls 27 of leer section B at the speed at which it is intended to move therethrough during annealing.

If desired, instead of lowering the high speed rolls 26 away from the sheet, the rotation of these rolls may be reduced to a speed equal to or below that of the low speed rolls to effect the reduction in the speed of travel of the sheet. When the high speed rolls are reduced to a speed below that of the low speed rolls, the low speed rolls will serve to pull or drag the sheet forwardly over the high speed rolls which are then being driven at a speed relatively less than that of the low speed rolls. The relative speeds herein given are merely by way of example since a wide range of speeds may be used. Also, other types of driving means for the rolls may be employed and likewise a different raising and lowering mechanism,

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred embodiment of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. The method of handling newly formed sheets of glass, comprising carrying the glass sheet forwardly and delivering it at a relatively high rate of speed onto a series of rotatable supporting rolls, positively driving alternate rolls at a speed substantially equal to the speed at which the sheet is delivered thereupon, simultaneously positively driving the remaining rolls at a relatively slower speed to cause the high speed rolls to push or shove the sheet forwardly over the slow speed rolls, and then lowering the high speed rolls away from and out of contact with the sheet when said sheet reaches a predetermined position, thereby causing the forward speed of travel of the sheet to be reduced to a speed equal to that of the slow speed rolls.

2. The method of handling newly formed sheets of glass, comprising carrying the glass sheet forwardly and delivering it at a relatively high rate of speed onto a series of rotatable rolls divided into two separate sets which cooperate to simultaneously support the sheet, positively driving one set of rolls at a speed substantially equal to the speed at which the sheet is delivered thereupon, simultaneously positively driving the other set of rolls at a relatively slower speed to cause the high speed rolls to push or shove the sheet forwardly over the slow speed rolls, and then lowering the high speed rolls away from and out of contact with the sheet when said sheet reaches a predetermined position, thereby causing the forward speed of travel of the JAMES C. BLAIR. 

